Hatfield woman sentenced for improper contact with teen

COURTHOUSE — A Hatfield Township woman and former teacher at Calvary Baptist School in Towamencin has been taught a lesson by prosecutors — having an inappropriate relationship with a teenager leads to jail time.

Nicole Jacques, 27, of the 2000 block of Maple Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Friday to 11 ½ to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by three years’ probation, after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of corruption of a minor in connection with incidents that occurred between February 2011 and February 2012 with a 15-year-old boy she once taught.

“Jail time was important to punish her appropriately for what she did as well as to send a message to the community in general that you can’t engage in sexual relationships with minors,” said Assistant District Attorney Matthew Quigg. “This defendant engaged in a sexual relationship with somebody that she knew through her capacity of being a teacher. She knew that he was 15 years old at the time she engaged in this sexual relationship with him and that’s why she had to pay the price for it.”

Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy ordered Jacques to have no contact with the boy as a condition of the sentence. Jacques must report to the jail on Aug. 26 to begin serving her sentence, and she is eligible for the jail’s work release program.

An evaluation by the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board determined that Jacques does not meet criteria under Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law to be classified as a sexually violent predator. However, Jacques, who was represented by defense lawyer Matthew Wilkov, will have to report her address to state police for 15 years to comply with certain provisions of Megan’s Law.

“By virtue of this she will never be able to teach again,” Quigg said. “It’s very important that she be put in a position where she has a conviction on her record that will make it impossible for her to ever have a job around children again.”

Jacques met the 15-year-old youth through her former job at Calvary Baptist School, according to the affidavit of probable cause. She resigned her teaching position in 2011 but continued to communicate with the teenager, police alleged.

The boy’s father contacted Hatfield police in February 2012 about the relationship between Jacques and his son, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Hatfield Township police Officer Thomas Starner. The father, after reviewing a cell phone bill, observed “an excessive amount of texts and phone calls” coming from a land line phone and a cell phone linked to Jacques, according to the criminal complaint.

A Verizon statement showed 1,168 text messages between Jacques and the teenager between Jan. 23 and Feb. 9, police alleged. Thirty-seven phone calls between Jacques’ land line and the boy’s cell phone were also documented, according to court documents.

During an interview through the Mission Kids Child Advocacy Center, the boy revealed that he and Jacques had sexual contact about 70 times between February 2011 and February 2012, according to the arrest affidavit. The boy told authorities that he and Jacques “were involved in a romantic relationship” during that time.

“(The boy) stated that he and Ms. Jacques frequently spoke on the phone and also communicated via text message during this time period,” police alleged in the criminal complaint.

The encounters allegedly occurred at Jacques’ apartment, according to the arrest affidavit.

After leaving her teaching post, Jacques reportedly worked for a bank.

Other charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and unlawful contact with a minor were dismissed against Jacques at time of sentencing.